Hypodermic needle protection device

ABSTRACT

A protective cap adapted to overly a hypodermic syringe needle and includes a radially extending flange extending beyond the outer periphery of the cap, which serves as a barrier should misalignment of the bore defining an interior of the cap and the needle occur. The cap is grasped on an end of the cap remote from the opening defining the bore so that the radially extending flange is interposed between the needle and the user&#39;s hand. A special cap storage receptacle is also provided.

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 766,713, Aug. 19,1985, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,453.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention relates generally to protective caps adaptedto be utilized with hypodermic needles for syringes.

BACKGROUND

It is well known that used hypodermic needles are extremely susceptibleto transmitting diseases. Hepatitis and other highly contagious diseasescan be transmitted by successive use of the same needle by differentindividuals. In a hospital environment, however, precautions are takento avoid use of contaminated needles by their expeditious disposal.Problems exist, however, in storing the needle for disposal and commonlythe protective cap associated with the needle receives the used needlefor discarding. However, it is apparent that the bore of the needle capis dimensioned not much larger than the diameter of the needle and itsneedle base which removably attaches to a syringe. Misalignment of theneedle with respect to the cap when tyring to reinsert the needletherein can cause the hand which holds the cap to be punctured therebyincreasing the likelihood of transmission of a contagious disease.

The instant invention is directed to an instrumentality which renders itless likely that the holder of the cap will be contaminated by theneedle when misalignment occurs. The needle receptacle, according to thepresent invention, includes a radially extending flange which isinterposed between the hand grasping area and the opening of thereceptacle so that, absent gross misalignment, it is more likely thatthe protective flange would be engaged by the needle rather than theperson's hand when recapping the needle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is the primary object of the invention to provide the needle/syringewith a protective cap device having a radially extending (annular)flange that is easy and inexpensive to manufacture by being easilymolded.

It is further the object of the invention to provide a device of thecharacter above which reduces the likelihood of self inflicted injury byinterposing a special protective flange between the combinedsyringe/needle and the hand-held hypodermic needle cap.

It is further the object of this invention to provide a device ascharacterized above which lends itself to mass productive techniques.

More particularly, these objects and other related objects will becomeevident when considering the following detailed specification when takenin conjunction with the appended drawing figures. Specifically, however,the instant invention is directed to an instrumentality adapted tooverlie the needle portion of a syringe and frictionally engage theneedle base where it attaches the syringe so that needles can besuccessively replaced. In order to cause the needle to be placed withinthe cap, alignment of the needle with the bore of the cap must beeffected, and when misalignment occurs, the hand of the person holdingthe cap can be contaminated by inadvertent needle injection. Thus aradially extending flange is provided on the outer wall of the cap tolocate the hand on one side of the flange remote from the opening of theblind bore of the cap. Thus misalignment between the needle and the borewill cause the needle to more likely engage the flange rather than thehand of the person holding the cap. The cap itself is provided with aclosure which allows a needle to be stored within the cap free fromcontamination and available for use upon demand. A plurality of caps andclosures are contained in a receptacle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a sectional view taken along a longitudinal axis of theapparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of that which is shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a plurality of protective caps stored inan associated special receptacle.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view thereof.

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view showing the nested arrangement of aplurality of protective caps when placed in the receptacle in FIG. 4.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference number refers to likeparts throughout the various drawing figures, reference numeral 10 isdirected to the protective cap for use with hypodermic needles andsyringes according to the present invention.

More particularly, the protective cap according to the present inventionincludes a tubular body 1 having an end wall 4, the tubular bodycombined with the end wall 4 defining an interior 8 having an opening 9with the interior defining a blind bore.

The body 1 has a radially extending flange 2 spaced downwardly fromopening 9 approximately one third the body's total length. FIG. 3reflects that the body 1 below the flange has a plurality oflongitudinally extending ribs 7 running down from the flange to the endwall 4. The ribs 7 provide a tractive surface to facilitate grasping thebody for needle or cover manipulation.

FIG. 2 shows the protective cover 3 inserted over the opening 9 of theprotective cap to therefore seal the interior 8 from contamination. Moreparticularly, the cover 3 is of substantially cylindrical section havingan inner diameter corresponding substantially to the outer diameter ofthe cover above the flange at 5 so that a tight frictional fit can beafforded. A topmost portion of the cover remote from the flange includesa necked down area 6 have a plurality of faces on an outer wall thereofto provide tactile means in combination with the longitudinallyextending ribs 7 for purposes to be assigned. The faces on the end ofthe cover 6 analogously operate as the exterior faces on a nut.

In use and operation, a syringe S having a needle N is adapted to beplaced within the cover 10, and an area of the cover away from theopening 9 is grasped with mechanical advantage being afforded by thelongitudinally extending ribs 7. Misalignment of the syringe needle Nwith respect to the opening 9 can be accounted for (absent grossalignment) and guarded against by means of the radially extending flange2. The inner diameter of the interior 8 is engineered and designed toaccommodate the outer periphery of the needle support base such thatrotation of the syringe S will cause dislodgement of the needle N fromthe syringe whereby the syringe is ready to receive a new needlethereon.

New needles can be removed and old needles can be replaced within thecap for the associated security and hygienic aspects to which theinstant invention is directed. The cover 3 can be twisted from theprotective cap body, be means of the mechanical advantage on themultifaceted end portion 6 vis a vis the longitudinally extending ribs7.

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 depict the protective cap placed in a special storagereceptacle packaged so that a plurality of such caps can be sold andtransported in quantity.

More particularly, the special receptacle 20 includes a container havinga bottom wall 22, from which upwardly extends four side walls 21. Thus,an open top container is provided. A flap 24 extending from one edge ofone of the side walls 21 is adapted to rotate on top of the open top andtherefore occlude the open top and a flap lip 25 is provided forclosing. The interior of the special receptacle includes a shelf 23provided with a plurality of holes 26 which allows the protective caps10 to be disposed in a pattern by protruding longitudinally through theholes 26 supported by the flanges 2. That is to say, four caps 10 aredisposed to form a substantially square cluster with sufficientclearance for a fifth cap 10 to be disposed in the center area betweenthe four other caps. The four caps are sufficiently close to each otherso that when a fifth central cap is placed as shown in FIG. 6, a nestingoccurs for economy of space. Thus a matrix is defined formed from aplurality of clusters, each cluster having N caps circumscribing acentral cap and spaced from each other so that the radius of the flange2 of the central cap has adequate clearance for overlying disposition onthe peripheral group of caps. As should be evident from FIG. 5, aplurality of such clusters can be formed so that one marginal edge ofthe one cluster is a member of an adjacent cluster. In the specificexample of FIG. 5, the cluster is formed from four peripherally disposedcaps and on central cap. It should be apparent that those caps which areplaced in the center of a cluster form clusters of their own with threeimmediately adjacent central caps so that clusters, when arranged asshown in FIG. 5, define another cluster formed exclusively of overlyingcaps disposed in the centers of the underlying clusters. As shown inFIG. 5 therefore, an underlying array of three rows and three columns ofcaps will define a central cluster upon which four overlying caps areadapted to be disposed. Thus when a cluster formed from an N×N array isarranged to form a matrix having N rows and columns, a second superposedcluster is available to be disposed upon the underlying matrix.

Having thus described the invention it should be apparent that numerousstructural modifications are contemplated as being part of thisinvention as set forth herein above and as defined herein below by theclaims.

I claim:
 1. A safety cap for carrying a hypodermic needle therein topromote hygiene and to help prevent subsequent self-contamination afterthe needle has been used, comprising in combination:an interior withinwhich the needle is to be disposed, an access opening allowing a syringeto be placed adjacent a needle base for removable connection thereto,means for negating the effect of misalignment and puncturing the personutilizing said special receptacle, and an overlying cover for occludingthe opening; wherein said negating means includes a radially extendingflange disposed substantially one-third from said opening; and wherein aplurality of caps are disposed in a special receptacle formed from abottom wall, a plurality of upwardly extending side walls having acloseable flap thereover, said receptacle including a shelf having aplurality of holes oriented such that a plurality of said caps can bedisposed therein, said caps adapted to be stored in a series of N×Nclusters, such that sufficient clearance provided in the center of eachof said N×N clusters allows disposition therein of an additional capoverlying the cluster, and a matrix is formed whereby N+1 rows andcolumns are provided to define a central area adapted to receive an N×Ncluster overlying said N+1×N+1 matrix.
 2. The device of claim 1 whereinN=2.